Material feeding and measuring apparatus



19, 1936- E. E. HARPER MATERIAL FEEDING AND MEASURING APPARATUS FiledJan. 3, 1933 INVENTOR: fwd/f. Harper BY (Q 1 (1 f 0/ ATTORNEY.

Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL FEEDING ANDMEASURING APPARATUS Elmer E. Harper, Kansas City, Mo. ApplicationJanuary 3, 1933, Serial No. 649,808

1 Claim.

In material handling processes of various kinds, and particularly in theart of measuring and feeding materials used for water-treating purposes,such as water softening, purifying and the like, it is important notonly to secure a very accurate feeding rate but also a feeding actionwhich will be subject to suitable control regulation and variation tosuit changing conditions, in addition to which it is desirable toinclude provision for readily determining the total amount of materialso handled at the end of any given period of operation. Accordingly, thepresent invention has for its object an efficient apparatus forfulfilling these requirements, and particularly as regards the measuringand feeding of dry materials, such as a chemical substance or mixedchemical ingredients, and a salient feature of the improved apparatus isthe combined measuring and feeding function which takes place by meansof a practically continuously moving channel wherein the material isreceived and thereby measured by the removal of a pre-determinedproportion of the channels volume and said measured portion dischargedby deflection from the movable member containing the groove or channel.For assuring utmost accuracy, the channel is first evenly filled, whichis accomplished by sweeping the top of the channel for leveling off thematerial contained therein even with the top margin of the channel; orotherwise displacing a portion of the material for maintaining a uniformdepth thereof in the channel.

This operation is rendered flexible by providing for adjustment of therate at which the feeding groove or channel is moved, and also byvarying the operative position of the element which effects the removalor discharge of the desired amount of material from the channel, andasuitable counter device may be used as a part of the apparatus forrecording the successive operative movements of the channeled member.

With these general objects in view, the invention will now be describedmore in detail by reference to the accompanying drawing showing atypical form of apparatus which I have devised for accomplishing theaforesaid functions, after which the several features and combinationsdeemed to be novel and patentable will be duly set forth and claimed.

In the drawing- Figures 1 and 2 are side and front elevations,respectively, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with myinvention (parts of the supporting framework being broken away);

Figures 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views, representing sectionstaken on the lines 3-3 and 44, respectively, of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional detail view, representing a section onthe line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a perspective detail of the face plate which levels off thematerial being fed by the groove or channel, and also carries theadjustable knife or scraper which discharges the material from thechannel;

Figure 7 is a sectional detail of the clutch device forming a part ofthe drive mechanism for the disk or channel member; and

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the clamping adjustment for varyingthe stroke of the operating means.

Referring to the drawing now in detail, the apparatus is illustrated ascomprising a bin or container l9 mounted in upright position upon asuitable supporting stand I l and provided with a hinged cover I2, asshown in Figures 1 and 2. The top of the stand ll forms a shallow basecasting [4 for housing the bottom portion of the bin as well as arotating disk l5 which is carried by the upper end of a vertical shaftI6 running in oil in a suitable sleeve bearing l8 and projecting througha packing gland structure H at the bottom of the bin, as illustrated inFigures 1, 3, and 5. The outer upper margin of the disk I5 is providedwith an accurately machined groove or channel 20 of appropriate size andof approximately the same diameter as the bin [0, so that the groove iskept loaded with material from the bin by receiving it from directlyoverhead and adjacent to the outer wall of the bin; in which connectionit will be noted that the rim of the disk operates with a clearance 2|provided between it and the lower margin of the cylindrical portion ofthe bin (see Figure 5). Moreover, the front side of the bin is formedwith a flat panel face IE! whereby a segment of the disk is exposed formeasuring and discharge purposes, as the disk rotates beneath the bottompart of said panel face l0, where the latter is provided with an opening22 fitted with a removable face plate 23 held in place by lugs 24projecting from the casting M at the top of the stand I l and also aturnbutton 25 and wing nut 26 mounted on said panel Ill. The bottom edgeof the plate 23 thus serves as a scraper for smoothing off the materialin the groove 20 even or flush with the upper face of the rim portion sthe pivot 54 of the disk, and to the outer face of said plate 23 issecured a bracket element formed with a supporting flange 28 for themounting of a scraper knife or blade 30. This flange 28 projectsoutwardly at an angle to that radius of the disk drawn in intersectingrelation to theinner edge or margin of the flange for supporting theknife 30 with the lower end thereof in similar angular relation withinthe groove 20 and to such an extent as may be determined by theadjustment of said blade, as permitted by a slot 3! and thumb nut 32;this blade may be provided with a pointer for indicating such adjustmentby means of suitable scale markings 33 on the flange 28 (see Figure 6).The material thereby removed from the groove or channel 20, by thisaction of the blade 30, is of course diverted directly into thedischarge or mixing chamber 35 supported by the stand ll below the panell,- any material left on the disk margin outside the groove beingremoved by the lower edge of the plate 23 (at'the rear of the blade 30)and also discharged into said chamber 35, which is provided witha-discharge outlet pipe 36 for carrying off the resultant mixture to thepoint of use.

The mechanism for imparting the necessary rotative movement to the diskcomprises a suitable motor 40 mounted on a shelf 4| inside the stand II,and connected by a belt 42 with the pulley 43 of a conventional speedchanging device 44,-the vertical shaft 45 of which is provided with alateral arm 46 connected by a link 41 with an oscillating index arm 48.This arm 48 is pivoted at 50 to a fixed bracket and provided withsuitable index markings along a slideway or groove 52 (see Figures 3 and4) for slidingly accommodating an adjustable pivot block 54 for theouter end'of a link 55, the other end of which is pivotally connectedwith the operating arm 56 of a conventional type of roller clutch 51,the driven element 58 of which is keyed to the shaft l6 (see Figure '7)With these operating connections, it Will-be obvious that a continuousoscillating movement of uniform amplitude will be imparted to the arm48, which will in turn impart a corresponding oscillating movement tothe arm 56 of the-clutch, the extent of which latter movement may ofcourse be varied by the adjustment of along the slot 52 of the arm 48,whereby the rate of rotative movement of the shaft [6 will becorrespondingly varied according to the rate-at which it is desired tofeed the matenal from the bin it.

As a means of keeping a record of the amount of material dispensed bythe machine during a given period of operation, a suitable revolutioncounter '60 may be provided, having its actuating element 6-! presentedin the path of movement of a trip finger 62 carried by that part of theclutch which is keyed to the shaft l5, whereby each revolution of thelatter will be duly recorded by the counter 60.

With a machine of the aforesaid construction, the bin I0 is charged withthe material to be handled, and the mixing, measuring and feedingmechanism started in operation by means of the motor, whereupon thematerial of course will settle down of its own weight into the groove 01channel 20, which is thus kept continually charged to its full capacityby virtue of its forming a part-of thematerial-supporting means orbottom of the bin.

The movement of the disk as produced by the drive connections from themotor insures a proper uniform distribution and evenly packed conditionof the material throughout the groove, and furthermore produces anagitation of the contents of the bin by its continually shiftingposition at the bottom of the mass of material. As a further means forproducing this disturbing effect or agitation of the material, the diskmay preferably be provided with one or more pins 64 projectingvertically upward a suitable distance into the mass of the material,thus making certain that loose material will always be available forsettling down into and filling the groove 20. NoW as the rotation of thedisk l5 moves the channel 29 progressively through the opening 22 at thebase 'of the panel all excess material above the top margin of thegroove is scraped off by the bottom edge of the plate 23, so that thelevel of the material in the groove is flush with the top surface of therim portion of the disk; this of course means that, after this scrapingor leveling action, there remains in this portion of the groove avolume-of material of equal or constant crosssection throughout, whichmay be completely or only partially discharged by the action of theknife or scraper 30, depending upon its adjustment, whetherextendingentirely to the bottom of the groove or'elevated partly above thebottom; in either case, the amount of material removed from the grooveby this knifeor blade will be a layer of material of uniform breadth andthickness, and therefore of uniform cross-section throughout. Therefore,auniformmeasuring and feeding rate will result from any specialadjustment of the blade 33 and of the drive from the motor, .and thisrate of speed may be readily and conveniently regulated to suit therequirements by any necessary adjustment of said blade as well as byshifting the position of the pivot 54 along the slideway 52 of the arm48 for varying the extent of operative movement imparted through theclutch to the shaft |6,-the latter adjustment being the means ordinarilyused for regulating the machines operation.

Since the groove orchannel may be machined to very accurate dimensions,it will be readily seen that an exceedingly accurate volumetricmeasurement may be obtained, much more accurate, e. g., than anyoperation depending merely upon a flow of the material out through anopening onto a ledge or table surface and intermittently removing saidmaterial, for materials will vary as to angle of repose, which may alsovary somewhat with the size and shape of the orifice or outlet opening,and other errors creep in on account of lint and the like present in thematerial, and variations in the type of blade .or scraper used, and theaccumulations of the material tending to adhere thereto.

As one means of effecting a thorough mixing operation, fixed fingers orprongs 10 may be attached, as by fastenings H, to the interior of thebin, for projecting said fingers 10 down in the material for cooperatingwith the moving pins 64 for producing an elfective stirring and mixingaction. As indicated (by dotted lines) in Figure 1, the pins 64 may becarried to a suitable height for accomplishing this purpose.

While'the machine has been illustrated as using a single groove orchannel, any number of such grooves may of course be employed and ofwhatever size may be best adapted to suit conditions and the properties"of the material being handled, with a corresponding number and size andshape of blades for removing the material from the grooves. It is alsodesirable at times to handle and feed together a mixture of materials,such as lime and soda ash, or a hypochlorite containing chlorine withlime or soda ash, which operation may be carried out by means of theimproved apparatus in a very satisfactory manner.

It will thus be apparent that I have devised a practical andcomparatively simple but highly efficient and accurate type of apparatusfor the purpose of handling, feeding and measuring materials of thecharacter described; and while I have herein shown one form ofembodiment of the construction for illustrative purposes, I desire to beunderstood as reserving the right to make all changes and modificationsfalling within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire tosecure by Letters- Patent is:

Apparatus for measuring and feeding dry materials, comprising acontainer, a rotary channeled disk mounted within the container with asection of the channeled portion of said disk projecting outside thecontainer, one or more vertical pins carried by the upper face of saiddisk, one or more fingers mounted in fixed relation within the containerin position for cooperating with said pins for stirring and agitatingthe material, and means outside the container for automaticallydiverting material from the channeled portion of the disk.

ELMER E. HARPER.

